Traditional leaders assemble at Muswodi

“A government that works hand in hand with traditional leaders produces excellent results in service delivery. Traditional leaders provide land and the government’s responsibility is to bring infrastructural development,” said Headman Thivhilaeli Gilbert Mukununde of Ha-Mukununde village.

He is one of the traditional leaders who attended the Musina Mayoral Traditional Leaders assembly that was held at Muswodi last week.

Mukununde said he and his colleagues were impressed by the good working relationship displayed by Musina Municipality towards the traditional leaders. “Apart from converging here as traditional leaders, we have seen the mayor coming to our kraals to discuss service delivery issues. The fact that we also have senior traditional leaders who sit on the municipal council demonstrates that the municipality values traditional leadership very seriously. We are very blessed to have political leaders who work closely with us to develop our communities.”

Mukununde’s sentiments were echoed by Headman Litshani Mabila of Matatani village. “We are very pleased to be part of this important gathering where the mayor is giving us feedback on issues relating to service delivery. Based on the various previous interactions, we now understand how the municipality operates. We understand that there are challenges, but we are happy that we are informed on how those service-delivery challenges are being addressed.”

Muhlope said the municipality was happy to get full support from the traditional leaders. “We have inherited 58 villages from the defunct Mutale Municipality and those villages are under traditional leaders. We are doing our best to make sure that those villages are served accordingly, despite the challenges we are encountering as a municipality.”

She thanked the traditional leaders for their availability and full participation in the discussions. “We know that traditional leaders are very busy, but the fact that you have decided to put everything aside to come and attend this important meeting is a step forward to better service delivery.”